Always Remember
by twilightfanjm
Summary: What if Tyler never died in the 9/11 attacks? How will Tyler cope with the post traumatic stress he develops as a result? Will his family be able to help him recover? Will he ever be the same again? Will the trauma tear him and Ally closer together or will it tear them apart instead? What about the little girl that Tyler saved?


**Disclaimer: I do not own Remember Me. Just a copy of the movie.**

 **Chapter 1: 9/11/01**

 **Tyler's POV**

Discovering the pictures on my father's computer had been a huge shock to me. A good one of course. I had believed that my father stopped caring about his family a long time ago. This was physical proof that I had been wrong.

Maybe working so much had been his own way of coping with his grief. Maybe everyone just copes with grief differently. He worked to numb the pain that losing Michael had caused. I was sure of that now. Maybe I would talk to him about it later.

I looked at the clock. Only 8:40. It would still be awhile before my father got here from dropping off Caroline. Since I was feeling the strong urge to smoke I decided to take advantage of the time I had before my father got here.

Considering that this was the world trade center it was sheer luck that the elevator wasn't busy and that it didn't make any stops until I arrived at the lobby.

Then something strange happened. The building suddenly shook violently and we heard what sounded like a very loud explosion above us.

People were shocked and many, like me, didn't seem to understand what was going on. A few minutes later I smelled smoke that seemed to be coming from the upper floors. So I, along with a lot of other people, walked outside to see if we could find out what was going on.

What I saw would be forever seared into my memory. There was a large gaping hole where I had just been not 15 minutes ago. Smoke was pouring out of the hole.

I heard rumors about a plane having crashed into the building but I wasn't sure about that. All I could do was stand there and stare at the smoke. I was lucky to even be alive. It scared me to think how close to death I had just been.

I couldn't help but think to myself over and over again. What the hell just happened?! Did a plane crash or was there just some kind of explosion?

It was a chaotic scene. People were terrified. I could hear the sirens in the distance. People stared at the tower in shock and disbelief.

Then I saw it. There was a plane headed our way and it was coming fast. I felt my heartbeat speed up. It didn't slow down as it approached us. To my absolute horror the plane crashed into the south tower. There was another very loud bang that sounded exactly like the one I heard about 15 minutes ago. Then there was the hole. It was just like the one in my building. It was a large gaping hole that started to billow out smoke.

This was no accident. Planes had hit both buildings. Someone was doing this on purpose. We are under attack. I had never been more scared in my life. Someone actually wanted to kill us. But who? And why?

I had one thought in my mind. I had to get back to my family. They needed to know that I was okay! They all knew that I was here! They must be thinking the worst right now! Mom, dad, Caroline, Ally they all must be so scared thinking that I was still up there in my father's office. I had to get out of here!

I found escape to be nearly impossible. No matter which direction I went in there was other people. They were either staring at the towers or trying to get away from the world trade center themselves.

I stood there to try and think of a better plan to get out of here safely. For now all I could do was stare at the towers in horror. The fiery smoke contrasting against the magnificent blue sky. I could see what looked like debris falling from the towers. Then I realized that it wasn't just debris.

We heard another loud explosion that made all of us look up. I couldn't see exactly what happened but I knew one thing for sure. The south tower was collapsing.

Everyone started to run away from the buildings as fast as they could. I ran as fast as I could as well. My lungs burned from all the running that I did but I did not care. My life depended on me getting as far away from those buildings as possible.

Then I did something that I wasn't sure was brave or stupid or a mixture of both. I ran back. Somehow over the chaos I heard someone screaming. It sounded like a little girl.

That little girl looked to be around four or five years old. I grabbed her and started running as fast as I could again with the little girl in my arms this time.

I ran and I ran until I could not run anymore. My legs felt extra wobbly like they were about to collapse. I looked back only to see that the north tower starting to collapse as well.

These were images, sights, and feeling that would be forever seared in my memory.

 **So what do you all think? This was an idea I came up with a few days ago. R.I.P to all those people that died on this day 14 years ago.**


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